Tuesday, September 30, 2014

~ 3D2N Johor Bahru Food Trail - Day 2 (Part 2) ~

After spending the entire morning hunting for food, it was time to shop, play and rest. We drove down to Sutera Mall - one of our favourite one stop family shopping mall in Johor Bahru. Families can shop, dine, indulge in leisure activities all under one roof.

In case you are not aware, apart from AEON hypermarket where you can find your daily household grocery needs, Trendy Zone featuring latest fashion wear, footwear and other products, Sutera Mall continues to expand its space to add in more leisure activities.

Bounce N Playis one of the recently opened indoor playground at Level 4 (East Wing). Charges is slightly more expensive than "Go N Play Playground" in KSL City Mall.

No extra charges after 2 hours of play. Child needs to wear socks prior to entering. Only applicable for child 12 years and below and height not exceeding 150cm.

While Gladys entered the play area with Hubby, Denver and I took the opportunity to roam around MY Library which is next to Bounce N Play. The first full-fledge mall library in JB is beautifully renovated with a nice collection of books for children, youth and adult. It is definitely a good spot to rest my tired feet and for the kids to grab a book.

Another interesting addition is Escape Room which is located opposite of MY Library. The reality escape room game has become a hit especially among the youths. It is a game of logic, intuition and collaboration to search for clues and solve all the puzzles in order to escape from the room.

There are 6 rooms to choose from. UP - BON Voyage seems to be more suitable for families where young children can also join in the fun solving the mysteries to escape. We gave it a miss due to time constrain but will probably give it a try on our next road trip to Sutera Mall.

After shopping, resting and playing, there is one stop that we have to visit before leaving the mall - The Arcade at basement level. Ever since Gladys' lucky win on her previous visit, she was determined to strike again. True enough, she won herself another Bunny stuff toy within 5 minutes of play.

We walked out of the mall and explore the shop houses along Jalan Sutera Tanjung. There are many dining options (cafe, restaurants, coffeeshops) that you can consider on your next visit. It was a hot afternoon and we spotted one welcoming and familiar sight - U Dessert! If you recall, we spotted this dessert shop on Day 1 at Permas Jaya. The children adore the icy cool dessert and we promised them to be back and try out the other selection from the menu.

This time we decided to skip the mango-theme items and go for ice-cream and durian! Gladys picked Double-skin milk topped with chocolate ice-cream. Unlike the Hong-Kong style 双皮奶 which is thick and milky, it tasted more like steamed egg. It is a sweet dessert that children will enjoy, particularly with the ice-cream topping. However, I thought the chocolate flavour over-whelmed the double-skin milk. The two flavour did not seem to match. I wonder if Vanilla ice-cream would be a better alternative or this dessert should be served as it is without any toppings.

Double-milky with ice-cream (雪糕双皮奶)

Banana Boat Ice-cream is commonly available on almost every dessert menu. It is one of the hot favourite as you can share this among families and friends. I ordered one to share with Denver and we were satisfied with the fresh fruit servings and ice-cream toppings. What I like about this version of the dessert is there is lesser whipped cream. I prefer my ice-cream to go with more fruits than stuffed within piles of cream.

Banana Boat Ice-cream (香蕉船)

This is a dessert specially for Hubby. He is a durian lover while I'm not. Based on his review, the durian meat is fresh and thick. It blended perfectly with the sweet sago soup. It is refreshing to enjoy a scoop of cooling mushy durian meat mixed with chewy rice balls and sago.

Chinese believes that every food has either hot or cold nature. I thought it was a nice combination of durian (heaty) and pomelo (cooling) together to neutralize both effects.

Durian & Pomelo in Sago Sweet Soup with Mini Rice Ball (榴莲甘露小丸子)

Dessert pricing at U Dessert is ranged between RM5 to RM14. It is fairly reasonable and affordable. I like the way they present and showcase their dessert items which is creative and attractive. A nice hide-away and indulgence, particularly on a hot Summer day.